LDAP Repository Architecture

The Oracle ATG Web Commerce LDAP repository is an implementation of the Repository API that enables you to store and access profile data in an LDAP directory. Like other implementations of the Repository API, the LDAP repository uses Java components as representations of different elements of the data store. The LDAP directory corresponds to an LDAP repository. Each entry in the LDAP directory corresponds to a repository item, with the distinguished name of the LDAP entry serving as the repository ID of the corresponding repository item. The object classes of the LDAP directory map generally to item descriptors and Repository Views in the repository. These corresponding elements of the LDAP directory and the LDAP repository are described further in the following sections:

You define the relationship between the LDAP directory schema and an Oracle ATG Web Commerce LDAP repository in an XML file called an LDAP repository definition file. This XML template needs to be located in the application’s configuration path. Unlike the SQL repository, the LDAP repository cannot use XML file combination to combine XML files in the configuration path that have the same name. Instead, you must use a single LDAP repository definition file in the configuration path.

This section introduces the principal features of the LDAP repository definition file. A complete reference to the repository definition file syntax is found in the LDAP Repository Definition Tag Reference section of this chapter.